Latest / The Steep Stuff Podcast / Ashley Brasovan - Pre Broken Arrow 46K Interview

Transcript

Ashley Brasovan - Pre Broken Arrow 46K Interview · The Steep Stuff Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What is up, fam?
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, james Lauriello, and I'm so excited to bring you guys an episode today.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Another Broken Arrow preview episode, this one for the 46K pre-race interview with none other than Ashley Brasovan.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Ashley is one of the most consistent athletes I've probably ever had on the podcast, training out of Golden Colorado.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: So on the front range, ashley was kind enough to join us on the pod, chatted all about her kind of, her prep and where things have been going into this race.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: She most recently competed both at the GoPro Games and just a few months back in April at the Desert Rats 50K.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Desert Rats.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: She took herself a second place finish, so got on that podium.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: I personally got to witness Ashley last year at the BTMR take the dub.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Uh, it's a Bartrell mountain race for those of you don't know.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, actually it's just like I said.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I want to go back to saying one of the most consistent athletes in our sport.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: She's got a lot of experience at this race.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Um, last year racing the 23 K, getting on the podium and taking that third place spot.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Um, so, yeah, it's going to be really fun to see Ashley race this one, wishing her the absolute best of luck.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: This is really fun because I have not had Ashley on the pod yet.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: This was our first interview, so looking forward to having her back for a long form interview down the road.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, super cool stuff.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: So, without further ado, none other than Miss Ashley Brasovan.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Ashley Brasovan, welcome back to this, or welcome to the Steep Stuff podcast.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: How's it going?
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Good, how are you?
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I'm excited to finally be on.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: I know I'm excited to have a conversation with you.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: It's interesting.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: You're one of the most like.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: I was just blown away after looking at results getting ready for this podcast to have this conversation.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: You're so consistent.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: You've made a world's teams before.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Like you, you've competed for team usa.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: You've done a bunch of stuff.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: So super excited to be having this chat and finally have you on.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: So, uh, yeah, start to.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah it is pretty crazy to think about.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, I like I think hoka actually knew me from high school because they're like very into high school track and cross country and I've been.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: I always think about it like I've been competing for 25 years, which is crazy.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Like most people come from like different backgrounds, but I started competing in track in sixth grade and ran foot walker and all of those and then ran D one and then roads and then trails.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I've kind of like been there and done it all over the past like couple decades.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: That's so crazy.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, so much experience to draw on.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Obviously, this conversation is more centered around like Broken Arrow and things like that, but I feel like, because we haven't talked before, I got to learn a little bit more about you.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: In my research I realized you're a dookie.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: You went to Duke, you ran there.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Obviously you've got like a very serious job of what you do as well and you're a professional athlete for Hoka I almost said Hoka Oneyone.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I guess it's Hoka.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Now I'm living in the past over here.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: How do you balance everything you do so much and how do you find that balance in your life now?
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: I don't think there's ever a time where I feel like it's fully balanced.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: I feel like it's kind of a give and take and prioritizing different things at different points in the year, but I think it's always been good for me.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: I'm very driven and hardworking and I think I've thought a lot about it and I don't think I could run full time and I think a lot of that is just in high school I was so focused on running.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: One footlocker was second.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: My senior year came into college with a lot of expectations and then had four femoral stress fractures in four years and I think I really had to think about, like you know, what else do I have outside of running and who is Ashley outside of running?
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: And I think because of my history with osteoporosis and an eating disorder and like all of the bone stress injuries, it just really forced me to be a little bit more well-rounded, like going into like the professional running scene after college.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: And so I think I've always just been someone who, like because of my experience when I was younger, I've just always really known that I need something else in addition to running, because I am injury prone and I have a history of stress fractures and I've been lucky to be healthy the past couple of years and I'm super grateful for that.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: But I think it's mostly like I've learned to balance things because of that long history going back to high school and college.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I can't, honestly, I can't gloss over that.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: I want to get into some of the bone stress stuff.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: How have you been able to I don't want to say find a workaround, because there's no, obviously no magic bullet, but how have you been able to kind of is it, is it just managing, you know, your load, the load of the amount of work that you're doing on the body, or how are you able to kind of keep off those stress fractures and things like that?
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good question.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I think I finally found a formula that works for me.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I, you know, coming out of or like going into college, I feel like I was really forced to like gain weight, look at nutrition, look at recovery a lot more.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: So I think during those four, five years of college I really focused on eating more, making sure that I wasn't constantly in a deficit.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: And then my training.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Now, for the past like two or three years, I've only been running five days a week.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: So I do prioritize cross training.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I kind of get in what I can.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: I don't really do a lot of long runs, like nothing really over 20 miles, and so it's kind of balancing, you know, the level of training, integrating a lot of cross training and some strength training, and just knowing what my body can handle.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: I think I've gotten really good at listening to my body too and just knowing you know when enough is enough.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: And I think my job kind of prohibit prohibits me to from like doing too much and overtraining.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: So I constantly feel like I'm under trained, but that's kind of worked for me over the past couple of years.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: It's so interesting to me seeing what different things work for different people.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: I've talked to some people that run 160 miles a week and it's like how do you do that for sub ultra?
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: That's bananas.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: And then I've talked to some people that do 30, 40 miles.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: We can get a large amount of volume on the bike and it's just interesting how there's multiple ways to show up to a race fit and to bring your best self right.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Right, yeah, I think that's part of it.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Is just like putting on the blindfolds and knowing that there's a lot of different ways to get to the starting line and that you know my normal looks very different from a lot of people's normal, and I've accepted you know since college that I'll never be someone who runs over like 60 or 70 miles a week, like that's just asking for another stress fracture, and so I've accepted that cross training is and always will be a big part of my training.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: I can ask you this so you don't race a crazy amount, but when you do, you're so consistent You're usually always on a podium.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Very rarely are you not on a podium.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: What's the secret to that success?
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Do you just highlight a race and train specifically for that and just go and nail that, or are you more?
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm feeling fit, I'm going to jump into this race.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Like, how do you approach a lot of these races?
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Cause, like I said, you just had have had so much success and so much consistency across the board.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, honestly, I feel like some of it's luck, um, but I do think, you know, I do a really good job like recovering and tapering before a race, and I think that's something that not everyone is good at.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: I think going in like really well rested is definitely one of my strengths.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: I've gotten a lot better at nutrition and hydration and I think I tend to run my own race, which helps a lot.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I think I have to plan my year in advance.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: So a lot of times I'm just planning my races honestly around my work schedule like broken arrow fit really well into the year as a whole, and I think, like starting in like December of the prior year, I strategically look at, you know, like what is my work balance, like what is my personal life look like, and I try to plan races in into my life when I know I'll go in and be well rested.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: And then I think, part of it is just like I've been racing for so long that like I still get nervous, but like I don't think I get as nervous as most people, and I'm doing this, you know, a lot for fun and for myself at this point, and so I think I take a lot of the pressure off myself and I've been doing that a couple of years.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, I think those are some of the things that have really helped me and just in my past experience of like several decades of racing, that's amazing, Were you just at.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: you were at GoPro this past weekend, correct?
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, I was.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Maybe talk about that.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Was that just a tune-up for you, trying to get the race feels and see where you're at going into Broken Arrow?
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Was that an A race?
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: How did you approach this past weekend?
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think GoPro was definitely a training race.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: I wanted to get something in before Broken Arrow and I wanted to practice fueling a little bit more, like fueling it like super high intensity.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say it was like my best race, but I was a little bit tired going in.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: I'd been sick um a week or two before so I knew I wasn't probably going to get like first in that race.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: But I think it's good to like put yourself in that position and just get the race mentality back and I think it was a good like prep race and like practicing race morning going into Broken Arrow, since Desert Rats had been like two months now.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: So it's good to just.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: It was I wanted to get one more in before we lined up for Broken Arrow.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Smart, smart.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: No, I love the approach.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: All right, let's.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Let's get Obviously.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: You're no stranger to what it's like to be on a world's team.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: You raced last in Chiang Mai, which was a huge deal.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: You're on the 40K team, correct?
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, with Christina and just a group of amazing individuals.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what's the stoke level going into this race?
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Are you excited I got to ask you.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: First and foremost is the goal to make it onto another world's team.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: I think that would be icing on the cake.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, I've kind of struggled with what my a goal is this year.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: I think I want to go in and give my all to broken arrow and see what happens.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Like I have no idea what shape I'm in compared to all of the other girls.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Like I think there's like 10 or 15 people who could easily podium at this race, and so it'll be really competitive and I really just think it'll be like who has the best day next Saturday?
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: So it'll be.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: I think I definitely have the potential to make it.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I think it'll just be you know what everyone else's day looks like and what my day looks like and kind of that mix of things, and I would I would definitely accept the spot if I made it.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I also am looking at it.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: As you know, occ in 2022, like didn't go great for me, so that also could be my.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: I don't make the world team.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: I think this is a good stepping stone to get a bunch more training in after this, learn a little bit about like strengths and weaknesses and what I need to work on, and then really focus in on OCC this year.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: So I think I'm kind of looking at it either way.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: If I do make the team and don't make the team, what does that mean, and what does it mean in the year as a whole?
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Obviously, if you make it, that's amazing.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: If you make it, what would that mean for you to be back on Team USA?
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it would be an honor.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, you always have to go in.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Like I went into Chiang Mai thinking like this could be the last chance ever, like you never know what's going to happen.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I got pregnant the year after, so, like coming back from pregnancy has obviously been very different and training has looked very different over the last year.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Four US teams, and so there's a part of me that's like I've done that piece of it and I'm really proud of myself, and making a fifth team would be amazing.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: But there aren't that many people who have made four US teams before this, and so I see it either way.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: But representing your country is, you know, one of the greatest things you can do.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: I personally think, anywhere.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: But Europe.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I am strong.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I'm a stronger runner because I feel like the Europeans have such an advantage when it's in Europe, because they can like go to Spain and train on that course, and so Thailand.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: I knew I was like okay, now it feels like a more equal playing field for the US and that was such a strong team, and I do feel like the heat and humidity plays well to my strengths, and I do feel like the heat and humidity plays well to my strengths.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: So I really, really wanted to make the Thailand team, and Spain would be great too, but I don't know if that course specifically plays to my strengths.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: But I think we're early enough where, if I did make it at Broken Arrow, I would have time to kind of work on some of those weaknesses that I know I would need to work on going into Spain in September.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Now, this is a unique race outside of the long trail.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: This is another type of race where you can apply the application for a spot.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Would you, if it doesn't become the day you want it to be, are you still going to apply?
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: I think so.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: I mean like you always should throw your name in the hat and see what happens.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Um mean, I've actually always been a resume spot in 2018, 2019, and 2022.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: So there'd be something special about actually making it and not having to throw in a resume.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: I also think, because I've always gotten a resume spot, there's a part of me that's like well, maybe they're going to give other people opportunities, but I think I would throw my name in the hat and just see what happens.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: I think it's smart Definitely a smart thing to do.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the course a little bit and just like how you can like from a strategy perspective.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: It's always interesting to me.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: I love these looped courses, especially ones with two loops Like this was the same conversation that we had kind of with Sunapee last week, where usually the person leading the first lap might not be the person winning the race.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: There's usually especially in Broken Arrow, it's usually heat involved.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: It's a hot course, it's very exposed, it's altitude, all the fun stuff, right?
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: What's your strategy?
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Are you going to hold back a little bit in the first loop and then try to go for scalps in the second?
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: How would you race this?
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm thinking that's the smarter approach.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: I think I just need to run my own race.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of people are going to go out super hot based on like what we've seen the past like couple of years and I think I need to like not go out in like first place on the first lap.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: That really worked for me back in 2022.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: When I podiumed at the 23k is like I think I was like in seventh or eighth, like after like the third mile, and then by the top I had like passed a ton of people on the way down and got third, and so I think there will be a lot of carnage on the second lap.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: I do think to win it, you're gonna need to go out hot and just have a great day and like maintain that.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: So I think whoever gets first is gonna be going out hot and like not dying, but then I think they'll be like you know, two through six who potentially go out hot and die, but I think it'll just be I think the first.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: I do think the first spot or two will be like whoever can just like hang on to a hot pace and then I think maybe after that it'll be you be who can eat up the carnage on the second lap.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I think that's the only way to approach it.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Like you said, there's always going to be those front two or three who go out, like you saw with Sunapee.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Right, People go out so stupid hard and sure some people hang on and can pull it off, but it's very few.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be interesting.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: I think you're right.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot of epic implosions, if you will, especially if it's a really hot day.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: It's going to be fun to follow.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this Are you a better climber or are you better descender?
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: What are you more looking forward to in this race?
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Because obviously you've been around the loop before, I think it.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: It's, for the most part, a similar, pretty darn similar.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Um, what do you like more on this course?
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: I I kind of think I'm like equal on the climbing and descending.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: To be honest, like I don't think I'm like the a plus climber, a plus descender, but I feel like I'm like fairly even across it.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: I think the second climb will be really tough.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: So I think that's something like I mentally need to prepare for is like the first time you go up that climb, like great, you're fresh.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I think the second time you go up, I think you need to like really control the first downhill to feel good going into the second climb, and then I think you can like send it on the second downhill.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: So I think there's a lot of strategy that you'll need to that.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: I'll need to like think about going into it and how you want to race the course, based on like two loops versus one loop.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: But I don't know, I would say I'm pretty even across climbing and descending and I haven't raced a course this hilly since pre-pregnancy.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: So it'll be kind of interesting to just see where my fitness is at and see if I can like draw on some of the previous years of fitness.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: On that topic, like outside I didn't really we kind of got a little bit into the nuts and bolts.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: But like outside of, like last week with GoPro, like how has the build been going so far?
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Like how have you, how confident do you feel in, like where the fitness is and just kind of where things are at, confident, do you feel and like where the fitness is and just kind of where things at are at?
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: I would say I'm under trained.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Um, I think having like a one-year-old, like we've gotten sick probably five times in the last six months um, I haven't had child care as much as I've wanted on some of the long run days, so I think I've had a lot of runs that have been like you know, two to three hours, but I haven't gotten like a ton of like really really long runs and I have gotten a lot of speed work.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: So it's been an interesting build that none of my other builds have ever looked like before.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm kind of curious to see like where my fitness is at.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: I have gotten a lot of climbing in the past two months so I think I'm like solid on that.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: But I would say like from an endurance standpoint, I think it'll be interesting to see how I feel on the second lap and I think a lot of it will be like fueling and pulling on, like previous experience.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say I'm going into this over trained by any means, and so that could be an advantage, it could be a disadvantage.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: It just depends where everyone else's training is at.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: It's funny, I think.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: So you're on the front range as well, correct?
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Correct yeah.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: I'm down in the Springs, like you know, I feel like I mean because like so much of the competition lives in Boulder or they're kind of on the front range, ish We've had such a mild winter, like I feel like people are coming in like injured, like a lot of people are injured like more than you think, um, or have been fighting off injuries and people are kind of just like tanked out and tired from from, you know, an extended, like warm winter.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: So I wonder if that plays a role with like just excessive injuries that we've already signed at the scene and like races like sun of p and others, where people are kind of just uh, already a little beat up going into the season.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: So I wonder if that plays a role as Like maybe it's.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I have a feeling like maybe it's a really good strategy to be a little bit under trained or a little undercooked and kind of race your way into it.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's kind of how I'm thinking of this race Like worst case, I don't make the team and like this is a great building block for OCC.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: But I totally agree.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I mean you see this at Western States every year, right With like some of the June races, and it's like people go in with 160 mile weeks and they DNF for their like 30th and have a terrible race.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: And when a USA team is on the line, I mean I've been in running long enough to know like there will be a good percent of the field that shows up overcooked and like not well rested, and then there'll be people coming in injured and then I think there'll be like you know, maybe 25% of the field that's like ready to go and it's like who has the best day, and so I really think anything can happen.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: I think when a lot is on the line, like a US team, you can see like all ends of the spectrum of people coming in and you know there's only so much you can glean off of social media and Strava.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: So true, yeah, there's a lot of good points to be made there.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this so, if you know so, we've got September calendar, occ or it's kind of like late August, and then obviously Worlds in September.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: What else is on the schedule for this year?
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: What do you think you're going to hop into?
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: That is a big question.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: I think I was kind of waiting after till, after broken arrow to make a decision.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: I mean it's kind of intriguing that they're keeping the OTQ the same.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: I thought they would lower it and so that 237 is like a little bit appealing.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Like I could see myself going like a CIM direction because the windows open so early and they're keeping the 237.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Or I could see doing like a 50 mile or 100k.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: I think I like haven't felt ready to do that and I think pregnancy kind of delayed going into like the longer distances, like beyond the 50k.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: So I think those are like two very opposite directions.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: But I think I'm still trying to figure out like do I want to try a road marathon and try for the OTQ like two years early?
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Or do I want to go into the longer distances and try, maybe like a JFK or like some sort of trail 100k like later this year?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got options, I like it.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I was.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I was kind of curious to see if you'd say like oh, maybe I'll hop into something really short, like last year we saw you at BTMR and you had an amazing race there obviously.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: So it's just cool to like mix it up and you know there's always fun little races to hop into.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: But 100k or a 50 mile would be kind of sick.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Like.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: This is a little.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: You know, the beauty and the interest of the unknown is kind of cool, right.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah is a part of me that was like, oh, should I go shorter?
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Like should I do sunupy this year?
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Um, but yeah, I've kind of been dealing with like some hamstring niggles like early like during the winter, and I just didn't get as much speed work in as like you need for those really short races, and so I kind of crushed that idea and moved on.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: I think there's a part of me I've done the shorter stuff and there's a part of me that's like, oh, I just want to take like maybe a stab at the longer stuff.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: I really wanted to like figure out the nutrition side of things a little bit better before I dabbled in that and like give myself time to recover from pregnancy in the postpartum area, and I think I've like kind of, I'm kind of at that point.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: I like to hear that.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Let's talk nutrition for a second.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Like how has?
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Obviously it's.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: It's a little bit of an interesting Rubik's Cube for everyone.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Some people especially.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I feel like Broken Arrow is a great place to put that on display.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: If you have that figured out or that aspect figured out, what has worked for you and what hasn't.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: I would say traditionally I've done I don't know.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I would say I'm on the lower.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: David Roach is my coach, so everyone hears him talk about 150 grams of carbs an hour and I don't think I'm like ever gonna hit that.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: But, um, I think I've typically done like all of my electrolytes and salt tabs and then like the water mix and I think I've tried integrating more like let's try like an electrolyte drink mix with some calories and then some of like the higher carb gels.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Um, I think I have a couple different a mix of water and electrolyte drink mix with some carbs and then also like higher carb gels.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: And then I always do carry salt tabs because I feel like that's always been like beneficial for me in hot races.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: But I have really focused on hydration too.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: I think that's been one of my weaknesses in the past is not drinking enough, and then I've gotten like stomach issues towards the end of like hotter ultras or cramping.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: So I think pregnancy was great about that, because you're like constantly dehydrated and so like I've gotten really used to chugging like 30 ounces at like 6 am in the morning and then going on a run, and so I think, if anything, my strength right now is hydration and that side of things, and I need to like look at the aid stations for broken arrow, because I know a lot of people like just don't stop.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: They go past the aid stations but like where am I going to need to fill up?
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: So I have been drinking like quite a bit and I feel like that's helped with getting more carbs in per hour.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Interesting.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like that's.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Did you do like a sweat test or anything like that?
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: I've a lot of people go to scratch and they go do the sweat testing and stuff like that for their hydration.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I've never done it but I've like considered it.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: What do you?
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: What do you think?
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Have you ever done anything like that?
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: no, I've kind of just I'm very like by feel, like I know as crazy as that sounds, I'm like I don't know if a sweat test would tell me any more than I need to know.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Like I kind of have an idea of like on a hot day I need like 30 to 40 ounces, probably an hour, of hydration, and on a cool day I can go as low as 20.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: And then I've definitely experimented with salt too and I'm just I feel like I've never gotten a sweat test, but I know I'm a low sodium sweater, like I swell really bad if I go over like five or six hundred milligrams of sodium an hour, and so I know like the exact range that I need.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: And I think the beauty about salt tabs too is like if you feel like your salt is a little bit off, I can just pop a salt tab and it's better.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: So I feel like I can control it a lot more and just go by like weather and how I feel.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: If I have like that different verse, like being really stuck on like this is how many I need per hour, I think I know exactly how my body should feel and I know if I need less or more and I can kind of switch up my gels or switch up like my salt tab strategy or like water versus electrolyte mix on the go, which I think is is probably one of my strengths it's really smart, smart.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: I never thought about that.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: I guess like, yeah, the salt tabs really, they really do the job.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good stuff.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to get more salt tabs after this.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: It allows for flexibility, which I like.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: So it's like you can if you can listen to your body, I feel like salt tabs are the way to go.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm like a super salty sweater.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Like I'll come home and my dogs will like try to lick my face because I'm covered in salt.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: It's not not a fun thing.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: I gotta ask you this because you're a front ranger as well.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: I feel like there's like such a contingent in Boulder and like everybody trains up there.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I love the springs.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: It's like my favorite place to train.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: We've got so much down here.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this Like is Golden, like I've never gone up there to play on the trails at all, do you venture up to Boulder to do workouts with people, or are you more training by yourself?
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: How do you like it there?
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love Golden Also.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: The one downfall is we don't have anything super, super steep.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: So I do have to go to South Boulder Peak or Mount Morrison, probably like the two closest ones, to get, like you know, like 2 000 feet and like two miles um.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: But I feel like the training's decent here.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Like we have a ton of trails.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: They're way less crowded than boulder.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: You don't have to get there at like 6 am on sunday to or saturday to go like be able to run them.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: You can get like a decent amount of vert, although it all it is all like runnable vert um.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: And we have more water fountains, which is like a game changer in the summer.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: So I can like fill up at water fountains when I'm doing lookout, which I really appreciate, and I think I'm just I'm so competitive that like I just think golden is a better fit for me mentally because it's not like you're constantly competing on the trail and you're seeing like 10 people you know or as you go to boulder and like you're guaranteed to run into like five or ten people you know and then like you tend to get competitive.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: So I feel like culturally, golden has always just been a much better fit for me and kind of what I need from like a pressure standpoint oh, that's a whole nother conversation.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: I, I, I, I totally feel you on that Like, that's why I like the Springs it's quiet, it's like a Metro area but still like we have, you know, we have a good like a good little contingent of like athletes in the area, but still it's nowhere near.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: It's not Boulder, let's put it that way.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Like I feel like, if I live in Boulder, it's this constant FOMO of like wanting to be outside, wanting to do some epic stuff, when this, like I don't know, the equation to getting fit is not very difficult.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: You just have to be very consistent and do certain workouts Right, like, but people in Boulder do some epic stuff and it's constantly.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I don't know, I wouldn't be, I don't know if I'd like it as much.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Sorry.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: It's pretty crazy.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you look on Strava and you're like, oh, this person did like 50 miles today in boulder yeah, yeah wow, this is pretty nuts yeah, or you see these crazy workouts.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: It's just like man, I don't know yeah I don't know.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Actually, I want to say thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: I'm wishing you the absolute best of luck at your race in broken arrow and uh, yeah, we'll definitely be in touch.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: We're gonna have to do, because I haven't had you on yet for like a long form interview, for like an hour hour and a half.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I'd love to invite you back on maybe, um, after broken arrow, maybe sometime in July or August, to do just a long form interview to get to know you more and talk about, talk about your collegiate days, talk about a lot of different races that you've done and all your experience.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: So it'd be a ton of fun.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, it's been fun love to come back on.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, I appreciate it, and this will be out next week.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be dropping a whole bunch of them with all the elite men and women across numerous distances, so should be fun, cool, thank you, yeah, thank you.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: What's up, guys?
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: It's summer and you know what that means.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: You're going to need a new pack, hydration solution, bottle belt, you name it.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Guess what?
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Ultimate Direction's got you covered.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Guys, I don't know if you've been perusing on the Ultimate Direction site lately, but we've got two new vests that have just dropped.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: That's going to be the UltraVest 12 liter and the RaceVest 6 liter, in two beautiful colorways, and you know what?
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Guess what.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: We also dropped a quiver, finally.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: The quiver is here.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: The quiver is there.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Get it on the website right now.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Use code steepstuffpod for 25% off.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: All of these things are already extremely affordably priced.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: I think Ultimate Direction does an amazing job at their pricing to make it affordable for athletes of all economic abilities.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: And guess what?
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: You're going to get yourself an additional 25% off by using code steepstuffpod.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Like I said, it's summer, it's broken arrow week.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: It's crazy.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: The vibes are high, the stoke is high.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: You're going to need a new vest, you're going to need a hydration solution.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Like I said, go to ultimate direction.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: They've got you covered 25% off with the code steep stuff, pod and you are all set out the door.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: So, guys, enjoy your week.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: It's broken arrow week.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Go crazy, go wild.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Guess what?
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Next week is TrailCon and then we are in Western States.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: This is the best few weeks of our sport.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: So it's wild.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Thank you, we'll see you next time.